Last week, the family and I took a much-deserved vacation to San Francisco and the surrounding areas. I can't say that I am much of a fan of the weather at this time of the year--50s and 60s with too much wind while it was sunny and in the 80s back home in Georgia--but we took in the sites and had a great time.
And of course I went to a few yarn shops ...
The one's that I liked best were not in San Francisco. The nicest yarn people live in Sausalito, I think, and they run the Bluebird Yarn & Fiber Crafts shop. They had some pretty nice yarn in a scrumptiously warm and inviting array of colors. A nice chat with nice yarn addicts in a cozy shop on a cold and blustery day was just what I needed! If you are in Sausalito, you MUST stop in! See what I picked up? Some much-needed US 4 Lantern Moon circulars and a very pretty skein of Malabrigo's Arroyo in Archangel.
I also went to a pretty awesome little shop across the Bay Bridge in Oakland: A Verb for Keeping Warm. (I LOVE that name!). Too much family drama while trying to take in the yarnie goodness kept me from getting to know the organic dyer/owner, but the plainness of the shop with it's bare walls and bare wood shelving made an attractive aesthetic contrast to all of the gorgeous organically dyed yarns on display (and the brightly colored fabric at the back). Since the owner is also a spinner, I snatched up some of her silk merino roving, as well as a skein of her indigo-dyed yarn goodness. Truth be told, this is the first skein dyed with indigo that I have every owned, so I will be curious to see if the warning about the color bleeding is something to be wary of in the future.
And finally, I went to Imagiknit in San Fran. To be honest, this shop was a total turn-off. The shelving was so high that much of the yarn was not accessible to me. The condescending and rude salesman was also a turn-off (no to mention that the lack of heat made it a chilly shopping experience). His unnecessarily loud and condescending commentary to the woman who appeared to be the owner about how ridiculous it was for a woman to have called to ask if the shop carried a particular type of knitting needle because, duh, knitting shops have knitting needles, made me want to just grab some yarn and go. I did get a couple skeins that I think will work out to be a summery shawl or something--I did see that new Sweet Georgia circular shawl and that got my mind going, and I am going to be taking a triangular lace shawl design class at Stitches South next weekend so there are possibilities for these skeins in the shawl department; but I didn't really feel like shopping once I had gotten the lay of the land and I picked up these two skeins without really having any plans for them.
And of course I went to a few yarn shops ...
The one's that I liked best were not in San Francisco. The nicest yarn people live in Sausalito, I think, and they run the Bluebird Yarn & Fiber Crafts shop. They had some pretty nice yarn in a scrumptiously warm and inviting array of colors. A nice chat with nice yarn addicts in a cozy shop on a cold and blustery day was just what I needed! If you are in Sausalito, you MUST stop in! See what I picked up? Some much-needed US 4 Lantern Moon circulars and a very pretty skein of Malabrigo's Arroyo in Archangel.
I also went to a pretty awesome little shop across the Bay Bridge in Oakland: A Verb for Keeping Warm. (I LOVE that name!). Too much family drama while trying to take in the yarnie goodness kept me from getting to know the organic dyer/owner, but the plainness of the shop with it's bare walls and bare wood shelving made an attractive aesthetic contrast to all of the gorgeous organically dyed yarns on display (and the brightly colored fabric at the back). Since the owner is also a spinner, I snatched up some of her silk merino roving, as well as a skein of her indigo-dyed yarn goodness. Truth be told, this is the first skein dyed with indigo that I have every owned, so I will be curious to see if the warning about the color bleeding is something to be wary of in the future.
And finally, I went to Imagiknit in San Fran. To be honest, this shop was a total turn-off. The shelving was so high that much of the yarn was not accessible to me. The condescending and rude salesman was also a turn-off (no to mention that the lack of heat made it a chilly shopping experience). His unnecessarily loud and condescending commentary to the woman who appeared to be the owner about how ridiculous it was for a woman to have called to ask if the shop carried a particular type of knitting needle because, duh, knitting shops have knitting needles, made me want to just grab some yarn and go. I did get a couple skeins that I think will work out to be a summery shawl or something--I did see that new Sweet Georgia circular shawl and that got my mind going, and I am going to be taking a triangular lace shawl design class at Stitches South next weekend so there are possibilities for these skeins in the shawl department; but I didn't really feel like shopping once I had gotten the lay of the land and I picked up these two skeins without really having any plans for them.
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